Rune Factory: Eve of Holies
by Mike AZ 2
Summary: Just a fluffy little Aden/Sonja one-shot, despite cameo appearences from some of the other Tides of Destiny characters. There's a tidbit of Sierra/Joe, but very little. I hope you enjoy it, this is technically my first one-shot, multi-chapter stories are usually my forte. Rated T.


Rune Factory: Eve of Holies

Since Christmas is nearly here, I thought I would post a little holiday one-shot. I hope it's enough to make it up to anyone who lost interest in my other Rune Factory fic: Untill the End of Time. I'm not abandoning it entirely, it's just on partial hiatus. Normally I do multi-chapter fics, so I apologize in advance if this should turn out too short or too long. I also apologize for any OOCness.

Regarding pairings, this is primarily an Aden/Sonja fluff, despite the Aden/Pandora bit. The latter is strictly friendship. Sierra/Joe is slightly hinted at. Oh, and to clear up a misunderstanding, Electra/Mearwen is strictly a friendship-type relationship in my mind.

Oh, and I know I said I'd do a multi-chapter rune factory set of dabbles, but consider this a bonus. This particular one-shot takes place after the main storyline portion of Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny, after Sonja's soul is returned to her body. I should also say there may be spoilers.

Spoken dialogue is ", - is usually a change in P.o.v.

Disclaimer: The Rune Factory series is the product of Natsume, as are its characters, locations, etc.

* * *

It was a cool winter day on Fenith Island, as its residents went about their daily routines. The island was partly covered in snow as the Night of Holies was upon them. The Wind Dragon Priestess, Sonja worked at the inn while her childhood friend, Aden worked part-time at the shops and occasionally helped Mikoto with patrol duty.

It was upon the morning of the Night of Holies holiday when Aden decided to go visit Sonja, there wasn't much he could do on holidays besides fishing at the beach or generally visiting his neighbors. The silver-haired young man went to the Three Sisters Inn when Sonja just exited the building to go for a walk.

"Good morning, Aden. Do you my talking already?" smiled the Wind Dragon Priestess.

Aden smiled back"Morning, Sonja. How's work?"

Sonja replied cheerfully"It's been pretty good, I always have something do. But Aden, what about you? And how's Ymir? You'd better not break him, again."

Aden shrugged"Give me a break, Ymir is okay. So what's up?"

"Nothing much, the store is closed for the holiday" said Sonja.

Aden stood silently for a moment before saying"Do you want to go have some hot chocolate or something? We can do that at the house."

"Sure, why not?" grinned the pink-haired girl.

The two childhood friends went to Aden's house which they had shared while Sonja's spirit was still trapped inside Aden. The Dragon Knight took some milk and chocolate out of the storage box and went to the kitchen which he had purchased from James.

As Aden prepared the hot chocolate, Sonja addressed him"It sure is nice and cool out, remember when we were kids? We used to have fun with snowball fights and building snowmen back in our time during winter."

"I remember that, too. I remember the first time I beaned you with a snowball, you practically cried like a baby" said Aden, teasingly.

"Hey!" exclaimed Sonja, flushing at the memory.

Aden finished readying the hot chocolate and filled two cups, placing them on the table and sitting in one chair. Sonja sat in the opposite chair as they enjoyed their hot chocolate. Sonja commented"This is pretty good. Needs a bit of work, though."

"Sorry, cooking isn't really my forte" muttered Aden, sheepishly.

The pair sipped their hot chocolate, talking lightly about the past. As soon as they were finished, Aden glanced out the window"Sure was snowing hard, last night."

"I bet, and by the way, tonight's the night of Holies. It is also Pandora's birthday" remarked Sonja.

Aden grinned"Yeah. But seriously, what kind of evil sorceress is born on the Night of Holies?"

"I know she talks tough, but those types are usually big softies, aren't they?" frowned the Dragon Priestess.

"Point taken" said the Dragon Knight.

The two went outside to enjoy the winter air some more. Getting an idea, Aden picked up a small fistful of snow, balled it up and said"Think fast."

"Hey, no head starts" cried Sonja, unable to contain a grin as she stood back and readied a snowball. They dodged each other's snowballs as soon as they threw and ran towards the hill. Aden ran up as soon as he lobbed another snowball.

Sonja carefully climbed after him and frowned when she saw him catch his breath for a moment"You know, it is pretty dangerous to run up the hills."

"I know, but this is just too fun. This district is a bit narrow, and I don't want to risk breaking the pots of flowers over there, race you to the plaza" smiled Aden.

The two hurled snowballs occasionally, getting their clothes somewhat damp as they ran to the end and descended lightly to the plaza.

"This definitely takes us back to when we were kids" said Sonja, catching her breath before throwing another snowball. Aden ran out of the way, only for the snowball to hit someone else on the chest.

"Burr, this is cold. What are you two doing!?" A short red-clad girl with silver hair and a floating scarf had exited the church to take a leisurely stroll around town, or 'inspecting it' as she explained to Aden, once.

"Oh, sorry Pandora. We were just having a snowball fight" said Sonja.

Pandora blinked"Oh, is that so? Well, I happen to be in a magnanimous mood today, minions. Unusually so today, since it is the Night of Holies. I absolutely detest this day."

"But it's your birthday, right? Happy birthday" smiled Sonja.

Pandora scoffed and headed towards De-Sainte Coquille Lane. Aden shrugged"You'd think she'd be happy about this day."

"Yeah" said Sonja.

"Oh, I just remembered. I was planning on getting a gift for... someone" said Aden.

"Really? Who? I was thinking of that, myself. But it's not all about gifts, you know" frowned Sonja as they walked towards the chapel overlooking the island.

Aden shrugged"Yeah, I know, I just felt like it. Oh, and it is kind of a secret."

Sonja smiled at her childhood friend"That is still pretty sweet of you. Well, I'm going back to the inn, thanks for spending the day with me."

Aden smiled back"No problem. Oh, and I was thinking, want to have lunch together, this afternoon?"

"Sure, I can bring some crops over so we can cook together. Okay, it's a date" grinned Sonja.

As the pink-haired Dragon Priestess went back to the Inn, Aden thought for a moment'What to get for Sonja... She likes sweets, but maybe I can come up with something.'

* * *

Sonja headed back to the inn, thinking back to her recent conversation with Aden'I wonder who Aden's getting a present for, he can be so considerate.'

"Good morning, Sonja" greeted Electra De-Sanite Coquille, a blue-haired girl in a pink dress.

Sonja smiled"Morning, Electra. How are you?"

"Oh, pretty well, thank you very much. I was just about to go help Maerwen with the garden, it's really wonderful working together like Aden suggested. She wouldn't let me clean the bathhouse even once, though" smiled the other girl.

"Sounds neat, I was just thinking about Aden. Since it's the night of holies, I thought about getting something for Pandora. Aden even invited me to a lunch date. Today feels special to me" said the Dragon Priestess.

Electra beamed"Tee hee, I think she would appreciate it. Aden's been thinking of you, lately, huh?"

Sonja flushed"Really?"

"I like to think so, you two were sharing the same body for a while. Well, it's nice to see you, I need to go help Mearwen, now. She can manage on her own, but we've got along better since we've been cleaning and working together" smiled Electra.

Sonja bade the other girl good afternoon and continued back towards the inn when she remembered the crops she and Aden planted on the seasonal islands with the help of some monsters they've tamed.

* * *

Aden strolled down to the harbor, taking the elevator in the plaza. The Dragon Knight headed up the hill at the harbor and back to his house near the inn as he remembered what else Sonja would like and went inside.

Pandora was waiting for Aden inside"Well, I thought you might be back here, eventually."

"What are you doing here, Pandora?" said Aden, though he was mostly used to the Arch Sorceress's occasional visit.

The silver-haired girl scoffed"There is nothing wrong with an Arch Sorceress visiting her minion's home, unless you have a problem with that? I had just thought to grace you with my presence."

Aden shrugged as he headed to the built-in kitchen"I had just thought Sonja might like a present for the Night of Holies. I know it's not her birthday, but..."

"Ah ha, do you feel something for her?" grinned Pandora.

"Yeah" whispered Aden, setting out a couple of dishes and heading to the storage box to check on his items.

"Hm, this should be entertaining to me at best. You do not cook very often, I presume" said Pandora.

"What? Get out" said Aden, embarrassed.

"How dare you!? Humph, I will ignore that just once" pouted the Arch Sorceress.

* * *

Sonja went towards Ymir and into the monster barn. Smiling at the various creatures that Aden had tamed, she skipped over to the shortcut door to Spring Island. The teenage girl went to pick some strawberries before heading back out to get other crops for her and Aden's lunch date.

* * *

Aden got out some turnips and other foodstuffs out of the item storage box and set about cooking in the kitchen. Pandora calmly watched him"Do you require any assistance? I am in a magnanimous mood today, after all. So let me know if anything troubles you."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I can do this" flushed Aden, setting about making a salad and some pickled turnips. He even picked out some cake from the storage box's built-in refrigeration unit for the dessert.

"If you really think so" said Pandora.

Aden stopped cooking for a moment and went to the storage box to retrieve a Toy Duck to give to the younger girl. The Arch Sorceress smiled"I see you have not forgotten the tribute you owe me."

"Your welcome, happy birthday" said Aden, knowing that was just Pandora's way of saying thank you.

"I may as well leave you, good afternoon. For your sake, I hope all goes well" said Pandora.

"I noticed you haven't had any crazy ideas, today" remarked the Dragon Knight.

"Keep your comments to yourself, I shall speak of this with you another day!" snapped the Arch Sorceress, embarrassed.

* * *

It was almost noon when Sonja was done gathering crops from the Spring, Summer and Fall islands. Pausing to check on the tamed monsters, she headed back to Fenith Island and to the house. She had not known that Aden had been busy preparing at his place.

As Sonja approached and knocked on the door, Aden answered not more than a minute later"Oh, hey."

"Hey, Aden. I got the stuff we need" said the Dragon Priestess.

"Thanks, but I kind of got lunch ready already" said Aden, sheepishly.

Sonja flushed"You cooked, already?"

"Yeah, I used some simple recipes, though" said Aden, leading her to the table.

Sonja closed the door behind her and followed her friend to the table, she was surprised to see what Aden made. On the table were dishes of salad and pickled turnips. Sonja beamed as she even saw some cake on the table"Wow, you really went all out. I'll go make some tomato soup real quick. Diversity is better, after all."

Aden flushed as Sonja ran to the kitchen, he had originally planned to conduct their lunch date. The Dragon Knight took the chance to strike up a conversation"Pandora visited earlier."

"Really? Too bad I missed her. You gave her a birthday present, right?" asked Sonja, feeling slightly jealous.

"Yeah, she sure likes animals and stuff like that" said Aden.

The Dragon Priestess supressed a giggle while making the vegetable soup she decided on. A few minutes passed before it was done, the two shortly sat on chairs on opposite sides of the table, eating their lunch.

"How is everything?" said Aden, nervously.

"Needs a little work, but it's still good. Your cooking is really improving, Aden, I think Odette might have some competition" giggled Sonja.

"You think so? I'm not that good, yet" flushed Aden around a bite of his Pickled Turnip.

The two finished lunch and set aside the dirty dishes. Aden got out two more plates and set a piece of cake on each one. Sonja smiled"I'm so happy you remembered about my sweet tooth, Aden."

"No problem, I actually bought the cake slices, yesterday" said the Dragon Knight.

The two enjoyed their little dessert, making small talk every couple minutes. Aden stood up and went over to the window. Sonja frowned as she stood and went to speak to her friend"Is something wrong?"

Aden stood in silence for a moment before turning"I was just thinking. Sonja, we've been friends for a long time and... Well, I wanted to know. Will you go out with me sometime?"

"Are you asking me out?" blushed the Dragon Priestess.

"Yeah, well, if you want to" said Aden, blushing.

Sonja smiled"Of course I want to."

The two childhood friends walked towards each other and romantically embraced, unaware that someone was spying.

* * *

"Aw, they're so cute, together. How romantic" said a red-haired girl, standing outside the window.

"Yeah but, why did she choose Aden? I loved Sonja just as much" cried a dark-haired young man.

"Do not be such a crybaby. I expected it from the start" snapped Pandora.

"Pandora's right, Joe. They shared the same body for a while, after all. Why wouldn't they get together?" said a red-haired teen.

Joe grinned"Ah, well. At least I have you, Sierra."

"Heh, heh" giggled the female red-head.

Pandora shrugged"Today's been quite amusing, has it not? Now, I do believe we should disperse before we're caught spying."

Sierra grabbed Joe's hand"So, want to have a little fun, tomorrow?"

"You bet" grinned Joe, lightly kissing Sierra's cheek.

* * *

Back inside, Aden and Sonja broke out of their embrace. Aden smiled"Today's been a fun holiday."

"It sure has" said his girlfriend.

Aden walked forward"Uh, do you mind if we..."

"Kiss? Of course, we're a couple after all" said Sonja.

Aden almost kissed Sonja when he stood back"On second thought..."

"Aden, you coward!" Sonja thrust herself on the white-haired Dragon Knight and kissed him. Aden kissed back, enjoying each other's company.

Breaking away, Sonja smiled"It's been a romantic Night of Holies, thank you Aden."

"You're welcome" said Aden, blushing.

* * *

Well, I hope this one-shot was enjoyable. I know it's not much of a Christmas one-shot, but it's one of the best I can come up with. Speaking of which, Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny has a in-game festival called Night of Holies, which would probably be the Rune Factory equivalent of Christmas Eve.

Again, sorry if it was OOC, Aden and Sonja were probably a bit too forward with each other in this one-shot.

It's a bit early, but have a merry christmas. Please feel free to review.


End file.
